cardmeister

Welcome to 2009!

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:41:17 GMT

So I guess it's been a year since I posted here (at least publicly)... 2008, what can I say?

I imagine this will be a shorter post than previous years, 2008 kind of flew by for me.

I think this year I will break this down based on what I said I wanted out of 2008 in last year's post...

Love

First couple of months were pretty rough in this area... Another lonely valentine's day. I spent it in good company in a bar (Shea's Corner Pub), but it was a tough day for me nonetheless. Thank god for good friends!

A little later in the year, there was a near miss on re-dating somebody from 2007. Old, unspoken feelings resurfaced and were finally spoken, and a solid friendship emerged. Unfortunately, she started dating someone else, and I didn't deal with it so well. By my hand, we stopped hanging out because it was just to difficult for me. Truly unfortunate, but we still talk online and on (less-so) on the phone. As far as I know she is still with the same guy and it's going well, which she totally deserves.

Then we move into the "relationship of the year". I say it that way, not out of sarcasm, but because it lasted for most of the year. I ran into an old friend on facebook... real sweet girl. We started talking, hanging out a bit, and before long dating. It's tough for me to write too much about this one, because it just recently ended, so I have not had a whole lot of time for retrospection (perhaps I'll make another post, another day once I have had that time).

In any case, like I said, real sweet girl. She has a 5-year old son from a previous relationship... Now I had never really given much though to dating somebody with a kid but she managed it well, and it didn't freak me out like I always thought it would. It was good... for a time.

Actually it was never bad. I was content, but something was missing. I couldn't tell you what it was, but I never developed a strong romantic attachment to her. Conversely (as is so often the case is such situations), her attachment to me was very strong. I recognized this, and decided to stick it out for a while... to see if my emotions grew... Unfortunately, they didn't and I ended up calling it quits a few days before Christmas. Certainly not the best time, but it felt to me like spending the holidays together in that capacity would be fake, and that's just not my style. :(

Friends

Well here's an area I've always been blessed, and 2008 was no different.
My good friend Lenny moved off to Texas, which was a good move for her, but I miss her dearly.

I lost touch with a few people when I started dating Jen (inevitable side effect of making room for a significant other). Most of those people were acquaintances more than anything else... only one of them was a good friend which I regret losing touch with. Thankfully, I've been able to reconnect with her in the past few weeks.

I actually think reconnecting with past friends was a very significant part of 2008. Through facebook alone, I've found many people I thought I'd never see again. Even last night, at the new years party I went to, I ran into people I have not seen for years! I've only really become friends again with a handful of those I rediscovered, but running into old friends is always an awesome way to bring back memories.

One other thing of note about 2008, is that I started actually hanging out with my sister. Now over the past few years, I've started to spend a lot more time with my family in general, but this year Cheryl and I started actually making fairly regular plans to go out and do stuff together, which has been an awesome experience.

As always, my old and dear friends were there for me throughout the year... all the way up until the last moment of it and into the next. I am truly blessed when it comes to friends.

Big Bags of Money

Well, what can I say? No big bags of money... The company I work for did give me a nice bonus or the extra work I did on the project mentioned in last year's post, but no raise this year due to a salary freeze. Considering the current economy, I'm truly grateful just to have a job, but the big bags of money will have to wait...

2009

What do I want out of 2009? As is usually the case, I'd like to find true love. I will continue the decorating effort I started last year on apartment. I will improve my general organization and "tidyness" of my home also. And cliche as it is.. I will start working out, stop this gut before it gets too noticeable, and maybe even put on a bit of muscle! I will cook more, and eat out less... and I will... well, I guess that's enough for now... if I get through all that, then I'll come up with more stuff

Happy New Year to all my friends... new, old, and rediscovered!

Another year comes to an end...

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 21:00:19 GMT

First of all, let me say... "holy crap, that went fast!"

Next let me say that I'm not heartbroken to see this one go. I'm pretty sure I've said that for my last two Year-end posts too...

Oh wait... I didn't even do one last year! Lame.

Moving on...

This year had some significant negatives to it, but it had some (probably more) pretty significant positives as well, and a whole lot of mediocrity sprinkled in between. I'd never call it balanced, because I don't think the good compensates for the bad, nor do I think the bad negates the good.

(Always start with the negative so you can end with the positive...)

The bad...

Easily, the biggest tragedy of the year came in the first half. My sister became a widow and a single mother of two wonderful daughters... (Yes, there's softer ways to put that... but we are talking about "the bad" here.) Here we are months later, and I still don't have the words to describe the full gravity of this. Most people reading this already know the details and for the rest of you, you can reference my earlier posts on the matter.

It's been an exceptionally (romantically) lonely year for me. On a positive side, I only had one failed relationship this year... of course that's because I only had one relationship at all. Three months, early in the year. It was the first time since Joanne and I that I consciously decided to screw my "love" reservations and open myself up like I used to. While an admiral act, it was the wrong relationship to do it with. After a month or so, some incompatibilities started showing up and then downhill from there. It wasn't all bad... I genuinely have some happy memories from the time we spent together. But in all, I attached myself too quickly without really evaluating whether or not she was right for me (maybe because our first date was literally the night before I heard the bad news from my sister... As a side note, I had a girl who was amazing in helping me through that time, and I will be forever grateful for that). As a result of my rapid attachment, I made some careless decisions and in the end, had bit more to deal with than I had going into it.

Other than that one relationship, all I had were a handful of interests that weren't reciprocated... or (in one case) even if there was interest, pursuing it just wasn't a possibility.

Back to family matters, late in the year my brother moved back home... problems with the wife... No details here, because that's his business and doesn't belong in a public blog. Long story short, last I heard, divorce papers had been filed. This actually had a decent sized impact on me. First of all, because I'm an empathetic person and we're talking about family here. Secondly, I never saw it coming... not in a million years... It just managed to add a layer of pessimism to a subject I'm really struggling to stay optimistic about for my own benefit.

Oh... and I turned 30. Did I mention no promising relationships?

And now the good...

I made it to 30. And I had a hell of a time with a great bunch of people on my birthday. (too bad I have no photographic evidence... sigh). Oh and I had a spongebob birthday cake!

I've gotten a bit closer with my family... especially my sister and nieces.

Whereas I've been "lonely in love", I have never in my life had such a great bunch of friends around me... and that's saying something.

About 4 months ago, my old friend Lenny invited me out to her birthday... It was at a bar down the road from me so I figured I'd stop by (regardless of the risk of running into my ex, Joanne). I went, no Joanne, and Lenny and I are good friends again.

What's more, I've been going to her karaoke shows at that bar almost religiously since then, and in the progress met a gang of other folks. Most of these people I'm just acquaintances with, but there I'd call Jennifer a friend as well as Lisa. My long-time friend Dave (and more recently, my not-as-long-time-as-Dave-but-still-long-time friend Aaron) has started to come to the shows as well, and it's just all around good times.

Still on the note about friends, there's a handful of folks at work that I'd definitely consider friends... that isn't necessarily new to this year, but i think it's more pronounced this year.

And that transitions smoothly into work...

Just before running back into Lenny, I was sent on a business trip out to Arizona with the CTO and my direct boss, Ron. The trip was to meet with a big client and talk implementation with their techs. Since then I've been heavily involved in said implementation... It's a hellish amount of work, but it's fresh development and I'm truly enjoying getting to work on something fresh. Furthermore, it's an awesome opportunity for the company and consequently for my future with said company.

On a note of personal development... I've rediscovered much of my optimism these days... not something I can attribute solely to this year; but, looking at my disposition now as compared to this time last year, I'd say it's worth noting in this post.

I'll toss in here that I got a new car (2007 civic)... Kinda sucks making car payments again, but hey... I have a/c and don't have to worry about my transmission falling out!

Oh.. and another successful Halloween! (Pics coming soon... but to myspace, not here.)

So what's left? I can't very well put down any "New Year resolutions", since I haven't made any yet... (Those will be made tonight among friends and copious amounts of alcohol!).

I guess I'll make a note as to what I expect (or hope) out of next year...

Love - I'd like to find someone I can just be myself around and share something special with.

Continuation of solid friendships, and solidification of newer ones.

Health and happiness for my family.

Big bags of money from work when we successfully deliver the aforementioned project.

Love, money, friends, and family... what more can you ask for, eh?!

****************
Bon Voyage, 2007!
Best wishes to my peeps for 2008!

****************

P.S. I did set up a myspace this year... check me out there!

Reasons rethought...

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:47:29 GMT

I can look back at most of the significant events of my life and come up with "reasons" why it happened that way... That's likely a large piece of why I've always taken the "Everything happens for a reason" stance. I suppose it's probably also a bit of what I mentioned in the previous post — a necessity to help me cope with some of the more difficult instances.

But, since I've been thinking about it... Perhaps it isn't that everything happens for a reason as much as it is that something positive can come out of everything that happens.

I've said time and time again, "There's no way I'd be who I am now if it weren't for every minute of the 7+ years I spent with Joanne."... and there's a lot of positive in that statement. I've also said that I would've never become true friends with marsgrl200 if events hadn't played out the way they did. So, it could be said that Joanne and I didn't work out so that I could learn certain things about myself, become friends with
marsgrl200, blah blah blah.

From a different perspective, it could be said that those things were not part of some grand scheme, but rather just a positive effect of what came to pass.

Does this mean that I will start looking at coincidences as just coincidences?... that I'll stop believing that some things really do happen for a reason? Nah... don't think I could... There's a part of me that truly believes in these "mystical" concepts; but I do think that this may become more of my default stance. It makes more sense to me.

Fate...

Sat, 07 Jul 2007 19:45:41 GMT

Yet another relationship attempt come and gone.

I can't help but wonder if I'm too jaded these days... I remember a time (which seems like a lifetime ago) where I was a complete and hopeless romantic. To be fair, I felt a lot of that start to come back at the beginning of this relationship so not all is lost.

I finished the fourth Dark Tower book this morning... Since I've started reading that series again, I've discovered that I can waste away in front of a book for hours just as well as I can in front of a video game, forgoing the urge to eat or move from my spot until I reach the next chapter... then the next after that. I think significant difference is the distinct feeling of personal accomplishment after finishing a section of a game. Interesting...

The Dark Tower series talks a lot about something called "ka"... put simply it's fate... it's those events in life that, no matter how we try to avoid them, we will eventually end up there anyway.

For a long time, I've been one to believe in "fate"... or some semblance of it, I suppose. Specifically, everything happening for a reason. Maybe I believe it because I have to in order to cope with certain things around me... I hate to think that's the case, because... Well... I don't know why. I guess I favor myself more of a realist than that.

In any case, I think these past couple of years have held more significant challenges than any other part of my life. In a lot of ways, I think I know more about "how the world works"... wiser I guess you could say. Having said which, once it's just light being refracted by the moisture in the air, is a rainbow still magical?

Unfortunately, I'm not one to take things at face value. I always have to know why... understand the cause and effect of it all... At least that which affects me and those close to me.

So does everything really happen for a reason? Or do I take that stance on the difficult topics because I need there to be a cause... because I need to make sense of the chaos?

(One thing I will say about being single... It causes much more introspection for me... or maybe it just allows it rather than causes it.)

Whatever the case, I have faced some challenges these past two years... and I have survived them. And, putting modesty to the side, I know that I have dramatically affected some people's lives for the better during the course of those challenges... That fact crossed my mind this July 4th, and it genuinely warmed my heart. I hope to do more of that in the future.

An update to the "bad news"...

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:03:32 GMT

On March 16th, 2007 the body of my sister's husband, David, was recovered.

A memorial service was held Sunday March 25th, 2007.

Thank you, everybody, for the prayers and support you offered me and my family during this tragic event.

David was an amazing man, who affected all those around him. He was always was willing to help where he could, and his family came second to nothing. He will be missed and remembered.

A bit of bad news...

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 19:49:49 GMT

For those of you who don't already know, it's been a tough couple of days.

Late Sunday morning, I received a call from my sister's cell phone. She began to ask for something but was unable to finish. She put my mother on the phone to explain what was going on. She told me that my sister's husband was up in Port Charlotte with some friends and there was some sort of boating accident. My sister's husband was unaccounted for. I left for her home, immediately. When I had arrived, my sister and her parents-in-law had already left for the Port Charlotte area. My sister returned home late last night, and unfortunately there is no good news to report.

As I understand it, here is basically what happened.

Late Saturday night, the boat began to quickly sink. A small portion of the front of the boat remained above water. The life jackets that were on the boat were trapped at the back of the boat and could not be recovered for use. The decision was made for one of the 4 men to stay behind and use the small, remaining portion of the boat to attempt to stay afloat. The remaining three (my sister's husband included) used the three available seat cushions as floatation devices and made an attempt for land.

One of the three made it to land early the next morning. It took approximately 10 hours for him to reach the shore where he was found. A search was immediately launched and the one person who stayed at the boat was also recovered. Both were treated for hypothermia.

My sister's husband and the other man were never recovered. After a search by eight different agencies, covering 500 square miles, the determination was made that it was highly unlikely they would have survived the hypothermia. The search was officially ended Monday evening. As I understand it, a smaller recovery team is still working in the area to confirm the outcome.

Kitty!

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 19:50:16 GMT

marsgrl200 and I went on a kitty-hunt yesterday and look what we came back with!...

She doesn't have a name yet... but she's relaxed a little bit since I brought her home and her personality is starting to show through, so it's only a matter of time...

Expect more pictures soon!

(Happy Christmas Eve, everybody!)

Wiiiiiii!

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 05:38:43 GMT

I have my Wii.

We chose Wal-mart as our retail venue of choice, since they would be selling Wii's at midnight. We got there at about 10am to check it out, found the start of a line, found out they only were going to have 18 in stock, and began the camp.

Beautiful weather, friendly crowd, plus... free bottles of water, free fried chicken, free cole-slaw, free potato salad, and a canopy; all courtesy of the Wal-mart manager!

I have pics, I'll get up soon as well as some more details... but for now, I must begin the unboxing.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Halloween pics

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:32:41 GMT

Hey look, this time I really am updating with a link to the pictures!

Of course that's only because somebody else put the pics together all nice and neat for you!

Halloween 2006 Pictures

Some of the pictures look almost like it's daytime, but those are just long exposure times. Some of the longer exposures made some nice ghostly figures, too!

Oh, and it's now officially my Birthday! 29 years... sheesh!

Halloween

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:10:47 GMT

For anybody who doesn't know, I've been setting up my mother's garage almost every year since 7th grade (about 16 years now) with halloween decorations. Each year I add at least one significant prop and overall, it just gets a little more elaborate. (This year, I found some heads on sticks at party city.)

This year was a wonderful success! Sure, we had the usual occurence of small children who didn't want to come in... But we also had quite a few older (9-16 range I'd say) kids who didn't want to come up... Hell, even some of the adults were reluctant! Folks of all ages were especially appreciative this year, and we got quite a few compliments. (We think that maybe the level of appreciation as well as the high turnout may have to do with Halloween practically being cancelled thanks to Hurricane Wilma last year.) However, the defining moment of success in the evening was when a group of adults who were out with their kids, came into the garage and took a picture, standing with us!

Everything just worked so well this year... It really just came together. I invited a few of my long-time friends over as well this year. I was surprised that they'd never been over to see this or participate before! Or if they have, it was so long ago that it looks nothing like what it did. In any case, we ended up with three of us filling the roles of 'creepy' this year instead of just me... I think that played a huge role in the way it turned out!

My roommate took some nice pictures through the night and is compiling them now. I'll update this post with a link as soon as he gives me the url. In the mean time I think I need sleep. It has been an exhausting few days of running around and performing setup tasks!

Update 2: The mystery of the missing books

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 03:24:52 GMT

Found one!

Under the corner of the bed.... I swear it wasn't there the other 12 times I looked under the bed!

Update: The Mystery of the Missing Books

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 00:24:00 GMT

So, I went to my Mother's house last night... and while I was there, I looked in my closet... and there on the shelf where I knew my books would be, was...

A distinct lack of Dark Tower books!

:: sigh ::

I'm really bothered by these missing books!

I know I've taken the fourth one on a trip or two in the vain hope of reading it, but I can't imagine I would leave it behind... I am usually super-thorough at checking for stuff before I leave. Even then, that wouldn't explain the missing book two! Grr...

Not sure which is worse, the fact that books are missing or that I'm so bothered by it!

Yes, I know I could just go buy new copies, but it's the principle of the thing. They were at my mother's house at one point. If they ever made it to the previous apartment, then I'm sure they didn't get left there. That leaves us at this apartment, and there's not many places for a book to hide around here, let alone two of them!

I didn't look too thoroughly at my mother's, since I was actually trying to find something else. I need to head back out there for more halloween setup this weekend, so I'll check more thoroughly then... Other than that, the only thing I can think of is either they are in Josef's storage, got packed up and taken with Joanne's books, or left here with the psycho... (the last two hold no hope for recovery).

I will find those books!

The Mystery of the Missing Books

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 01:42:37 GMT

Some time ago I started reading The Gunslinger again... It's the first book in The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. Several years ago, I became hooked on this series and read through the first four books (the only ones at the time) — well almost.

I read much of the fourth book, while I was in England with Joanne. I don't know if it was there or not, but I reached the last 30 pages or so of the book and realized that there was no way the story was at it's completion. I was devastated. In my naivety, I was not aware that it there were more, still unwritten, books to come in the series. I never did finish that story... even when the later books came out.

Joanne bought me the fifth book in hardcover as one of her many attempts to get me to start reading again (other attempts included The Stand, which she ended up reading instead, and Taken). I always appreciated the thought... I really do enjoy reading and she tried so hard to find something that would encourage it. It was cute.

But her efforts were in vain. I just never really got hooked on anything else. Hmm... apparently I digress...

So, yeah... I started reading the first book again... Slow going, but I've been reading bits frequently enough that I haven't felt like I've lost my place in the story. Over this weekend, I finished it... and I want to go on to read the second. But I can't find it!! I've looked everywhere! I suspect it's still at my mother's house in the closet there (and I was just there earlier... ).

what's weird, is I've found the third book... so I have the first and the third here, but apparently not the second or fourth! Maybe they are here somewhere... but I really don't have many places they could be hiding. Book store is closed, otherwise I'd go buy another copy; I know it would be a waste, but I really want to continue the story!

Go figure.

-------
interesting afterthought from this post. I imagine right now is very much the way Joanne felt about most of her reading adventures, yet it's so far and few between for me. Conversely, there was definitely one or two video games that she just had to keep playing... few and far between, but it was there. I love finding new perspectives on old things. Now if I could only do it in real time, rather than retrospectively my life would be so much easier.

High School Reunion

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 06:00:33 GMT

Well, I've survived my high school reunion... Overall, I'm very glad I went. The turn out was meager (about 40 people) but there were enough people I knew there to make it worth while. It was interesting to see what paths everybody has taken in life so far... Seemed like a lot of folks are married... There were only a few of us there w/o significant others as far as I could tell.

I got a chance to see an old friend, Desiree. I knew she would be there, but to be honest I didn't know how that would go since she sort of just stopped returning my phone calls a few years ago. In the end, I discovered I really have no hard feelings about it. Shit happens in life and some peices fall through the cracks. I know it wasn't personal and seeing her went well, I gave her my number and hopefully we'll keep in touch this time.

I spent a lot of the time there talking to Sean... He was Stephanie's husband. Real nice guy... As a matter of fact of the significant others I got the chance to meet and talk to it seems like folks have done pretty good for themselves. A lot of happy folks there. :)

As a result of this reunion I apparently *have* to open up a myspace account. The look of shock on people's faces when I said I didn't have one was almost amusing! But I will give into peer pressure and open one... If it helps me keep in touch with some folks, then it'll be worth it. But not tonight.... sleep now... or maybe some tv, then sleep... or perhaps some lego star wars. hehe

I will master the fried egg!

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 18:04:45 GMT

I managed to make two well-formed fried eggs... and it only took 6 eggs to do it.

:: sigh ::

Now, I know I've made fried eggs before (but for someone else)... But I don't remember if it took so many attempts! Maybe I just didn't admit to it taking so many attempts, hence allowing myself to forget that detail!

Who knew there were so many ways to break the yolk... But surely I discovered them all today...
- Egg drops from too high above from frying pan (Damn inertia!)
- Half of Egg shell leaps from your hand landing right on the yolk (Damn Gravity!)
- Unsuccessful flip of the egg. (Damn... ummm... spatula! yeah, that's it!)

But in the end, I had fried eggs. And they were good. Missing bacon though!

(Mmm... Baaacon...)

Let's try this again...

Sun, 30 Jul 2006 18:42:00 GMT

Yet another attempt to do something about my sad physical condition began today... I completed my routine in just under 35 minutes and hit most of my goals. I consider that pretty good since, I havn't touched the bowflex in several months.

I'm determined to stick with it this time... I've put on some weight since I got the desk job, but that in itself doesn't bother me so much — heck, it's arguable that I needed it! What gets me is that if I rush up the three flights of stairs leading to my apartment, I feel it! It's amazing how much of a difference sitting at a desk 8 hours a day makes vs. running up and down an 6 stories of Movie Theater. :: sigh ::

In any case, the immediate plan is to work out on the bowflex every other day. As I get more into that routine, i think I will add 30 minutes of treadmill down on the apt. gym on the off days. Now here's the kicker... I'm going to try and do all of this before work.

For those of you who know me and know my usual sleep pattern, stop laughing. I'm actually much less of a night owl these days. Now that I can actually get some time to relax after work w/o staying up way past the point of exhaustion, I go to bed at a more reasonable time, and rest much better. Consequently, I routinely wake up in the morning without an alarm.

With the increase in free time, less stress, and a lot less wasted time sleeping I sometimes I wonder how different life would've been if I hadn't taken the job at the theater. Having said which, I would've in no way had the money to take care of my teeth, live with Joanne, and finish school — none of which I would trade. I guess there is some truth is the saying that, "timing is everything."

Discovery Channel rocks...

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 22:21:49 GMT

I really should watch it more...

Watching a right now called China's Mega-Dam. It's a documentary about the Three Gorges Dam — the world's largest damn. A truly ambitious project to try to control the Yangtze River in order to prevent disaster's such as the 1998 flooding. As the show progresses, it talks about all of the small villages, temples and history which had to be abandoned to make way for the rising water of the resovoir. It's really sad how much of the area's past has been and will be lost. On the flip side, the finished product producing enough energy to power Boston, Washington DC, and New York and having the promise to stave off the floods which plague the lowlands about once a decade.

The show talks about how the local villages handled the reality of having to abandon their homes as well as the immense challenges encountered and overcame in the construction of the huge structure. It also takes the time to touch on the effects on the local environment as well as the possiblity of greater natural consequences (such as encouraging earthquakes).

Going to have to set the rest to record. My mother is flying back in soon and I need to take her home. I was going to pick her up from the airport, but I got a call from my roommate saying that he ran into her at the Charlotte, NC airport! They ended up on the same flight back in, so he is going to drive her back here to the apartment.

Today so far...

Sat, 03 Jun 2006 18:04:14 GMT

Woke up around 9... watched some second-rate sci-fi movie that was on TV. You know the kind that is really not worth your time, but you can't help but keep watching it.

Aftewards, I got up decided to go on a mirror-hunt! I want to put one above our larger couch. The wall there definitely needs something. So it was off to Bed, Bath and Beyond! (That should be some sort of superhero's battle cry... Maybe if there was a H&G-Man.)

They had mirrors... But for above the couch I would need a fairly large mirror... And they had those to — for $80-$100. Still, I think I might've gotten one if I saw one that struck me, but nothing did. I don't even have a particular style in mind, so I'll just keep looking until something catches my eye.

Right now, our living room really doesn't have a particular "style" to it (except for maybe "lived-in"), so I have to decide on something that will match whatever direction my general decor goes in eventually. I say "eventually" because I really don't see myself investing a lot of money in matched furniture yet. Kind of something I'd like to wait and do with whoever I end up with. Besides, I have no delusions about the fact that if I did fully decorate now, I'd have to redo it all when I move in with someone ^^.

But I will say one thing... next time it will be as much my place as it is hers! And there'll be a 2 bookcase limit!

Anyway... Since I was in the area, I did stop by the Old Navy and bought a couple new t-shirts and another short sleeve button-down. I like wearing the button-downs, but I only have one short-sleeve one and from the way it's starting it's going to be a long, hot summer!

I also went by the Barnes & Noble there... I was curious if Denise was working (Store Manager, she was assistant at the B&N I worked at a few years back) ... I walked around a bit, but didn't see her. All the employees looked fairly busy so I didn't bother them about it, but I think I'll stop back by again sometime to see how she is doing.

Finally, I made a quick stop into Pet Supermarket... They have kittens! I am soooooo tempted to get a kitty, but after having Smokey and Trixie, I don't think I could get just one kitty... and to be honest, I don't know if I'm ready to get kitties again anyway... I miss my old kitties too much and I don't want the new one(s) to just be a replacement.

I really need to work on "quick posts"... every time I say I'm going to just hop on and do a quick one, it ends up being long!

btw: Just Discovered that a glass of Ocean Spray Cran-Apple juice with just a touch of Malibu Rum is damn tasty!

Thoughts on Episodic Games

Sun, 28 May 2006 15:34:51 GMT

(Okay, this started in my previous post, but has ended up longer than I thought so I moved it to a new post)

Yknow... I was a big advocate of the concept of episodic games when I heard the idea. $20 games which provide a much shorter experience than a full game, but tells a chapter in a story. Sounds great! Less Money, more time for the developer to focus on the story and a system for delivering that story which allows for TV-series type unfolding.

So I was of course quick to get my hands on the first episodic game: Sin: Episodes. Now having played it, I'm not sure how I feel about the whole concept.

The game advertised 3-6 game hours worth of play... Which for an experience player means 3... maybe 4 if you are thorough. The story was completely character development and introduction to the game mechanics. Part of me argues that it's the first episode, that's what it should be, and that's the main reason I haven't written off the whole series.

The game play was solid (for what short amount there was). It was fast paced with the ever important explode-y barrels. The weapons were limited to three: Pistol, Shotgun, and Assault rifle (with limited zoom capabilities), but were well implemented. The physics, animations, and environments are everything you would expect from a game built on the Half-Life 2 engine.

So, all in all, we have a well built game... except there wasn't much of it! If you figure that your standard $50 FPS is going to give you 15-20 hours of gameplay minimum, let's do some math:

15 hrs / 3 hrs = 5 episodes
$20 * 5 episodes = $100

This means I'm paying $100 bucks for content that would otherwise cost me $50 - and that's using a 15-20 hour game as the basis, which I consider short! Now, a shorter game is acceptable to me for $50 if it has kick-ass game mechanics and a good story behind it... But for $100? Now add in the fact that the whole story will be delivered over 9 episodes - that's $180 for the full story!

From a business standpoint, it's smart what they are doing. There's a murmur (that's slowly getting louder) in the gaming community about games being overpriced. So here they are offering games at $20 - an bargain in comparison to the $50 you see for other games! People who are used to paying $50 bucks for mainstream games aren't really going to think twice about dropping $20. So they produce less and make twice as much for it. Good from their perspective, not so much from the consumer standpoint.

Where does that leave me on the subject? I haven't really abandoned my original feelings about the potential of episodic content, but I am more skeptical as to it's implementation. Half-Life 2: Episode 1, I'm still going to get on release day because it's Half-Life and I've grown to trust Valve. As far as the next Sin episode goes, I'm going to have to wait and see what the community response is on it before giving any more money to that company.

Clean Kitchen

Sun, 28 May 2006 15:04:24 GMT

Busy Morning... Woke up, did the dishes from last night's dinner (Yummy chicken breast, corn on the cob and steamed green beans!)... Then I cleaned the whole kitchen... moved all the appliances, wiped them down... thoroughly cleaned the counters, reorganized, and even mopped the floors... And all of this before 10:30 AM!

Maybe I'll work on the spare room some more later, and I want to go out and buy a couple of decorative mirrors. Some of my walls are still too bare, and I've decided that I like mirrors... well, I knew I liked mirrors, but I've decided I like them enough to put them on my walls.

Sorry about the distinct lack of pictures of past events.. (niece, e3)... I'm going to have to spend one day and post all the pictures I've promised in one entry. :) I was actually going to start working on them today, but then I realized I no longer have any picture editing tools on my PC since I rebuilt it!

Okay, been productive... time to goof off. Gotta finish Darwinia. Then I might grab Half-life: Source since it's only 10 bucks and play that for a bit in preperation for the long awaited Half-life2: Episode 1 next week. (Woohoo!).

e3!

Tue, 09 May 2006 08:53:13 GMT

Must not sleep...

I finally have everything packed and ready to go, and have gotten (somewhat) caught up on the e3 news so far... so excited!

Only about an hour before we leave for the airport...

Must stay awake...

Thought about sleeping a little bit earlier, but now I've stayed up too late reading e3 gossip.

Can't sleep the clowns will eat me...

Exhibit floor will open up at 11 AM Wednesday... and I'll be there... Whee! (or should I say Wii?!).

Eyelids getting heavy...

Going to try and post updates from blackshade's laptop while in California.

Must not give in...

Yay for vacation!

Been too long since I posted...

Sat, 22 Apr 2006 18:22:26 GMT

I will be posting soon... probably next weekend... I'll deliver some long since promised pictures, as well as updates about my life including my new niece and easter this year. There are other things I know I wanted to post about, but unfortunately, I don't remember what they were... Must get better at this! :)

Bah!

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 16:05:54 GMT

Apparently, my mother called while I was over here typing away at my keyboard. I listened to the voicemail she left and it turns out that there is a jury summons waiting for me at her house.

:: sigh ::

Last time I was summoned, I got out of it because I had just moved to Broward county. Unfortunately, I'm back in Palm Beach County now, so that won't work this time!

I dunno... I think it might be an interesting experience to serve on a jury, but in reality (and with my luck) it would probably be excruciatingly boring. Not to mention stressful — Just think... Some person's future lies in your ability to make a decision about what happened at an event you weren't present for.

I'm off to go pick up the summons now... Wasn't really planning a trip out that way today, but I guess it's something to do!

What to do... What to do...

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 15:51:54 GMT

Must... Be... Productive...

As was one of the original intentions of this journal... Behold, GOALS!

Here are some things I want to accomplish in the near future (in no particular order):

Get caught up on laundry... again.

Pack up all of the former roomates remaining items (mostly books)

Create something — most likely some structure for hanging/storing my bowflex accessories.

Post some pictures for some previous entries.

And as an additional long(er) term goal:

Learn how to cook more than what my limited knowledge now allows.

Fun with Quizzes...

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 15:00:25 GMT

<td align="center">Your walk is:
Pirate-esque

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com</td>

<td align="center"> Chris --
[noun]:

An immortal

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com</td>

You fit in with:
Agnosticism

Your ideals mostly resemble those of an Agnostic. You are fairly ambivalent towards any religion or spiritual connection. You lead a very busy life and find that religion and spirituality are unnecessary to your life.

40% scientific.
40% reason-oriented.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

</td></tr>
</table>